Letter: Protect ANWR from drilling

Published: March 9, 2012, 6:00 AM

Washington’s U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, voted to sacrifice our natural heritage by supporting the terrible House Resolution 3408. This bill opens the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and part of our Pacific and Atlantic coasts that are currently protected because they are sensitive.

We live in a very beautiful part of the country. I think that most residents of Washington state’s 3rd Congressional District are at least a partly pro-environment. Supporting this bill is a terrible decision. We need to be moving toward a greener economy, not continuing our dependence on fossil fuels.

House leadership is pushing a shady plan to use speculative revenue from oil and gas drilling to pay for the transportation bill. Even the most generous revenue estimates will not be enough, as any revenue from drilling will be reduced by state-revenue sharing agreements, Any Arctic production revenues would likely not be seen for at least 10 years.

Happily, a final version of the bill has not become law yet. So there is a chance that Herrera Beutler could still reject it, but we will have to contact her office and demand that she not sign this bill into legislation.